Promethium is one of those elements I really never expected to get. It seems so exotic. But it turns out that there was a brief period of time after radium was judged too dangerous for common use in luminous products and before tritium because available, when promethium was used in to make luminous markings. It was used on such products as the thermostats of electric blankets, of all things.

But it was only used for a short time before being replaced by tritium, which is far safer than either radium or promethium. I have not yet located any actual products using promethium.

Promethium is an anomaly in that it is one of only two elements with atomic number less than 84 that have no stable isotopes. Elements 84 and higher all have no stable isotopes.

Luminous disk.
I was sure I would never got a proper sample of promethium.

Fortunately, Max Whitby of The Red Green & Blue Company in England located a Swiss company that still had a supply of promethium paint, originally made by a Japanese company. Max sent them some glass buttons to be painted and then sealed shut.

I chose this sample to represent its element in my Photographic Periodic Table Poster. The sample photograph includes text exactly as it appears in the poster, which you are encouraged to buy a copy of.

Sample from the RGB Set.
The Red Green and Blue company in England sells a very nice element collection in several versions. Max Whitby, the director of the company, very kindly donated a complete set to the periodic table table.

Sample from the Everest Set.
Up until the early 1990's a company in Russia sold a periodic table collection with element samples. At some point their American distributor sold off the remaining stock to a man who is now selling them on eBay. The samples (except gases) weigh about 0.25 grams each, and the whole set comes in a very nice wooden box with a printed periodic table in the lid.

Radioactive elements like this one are represented in this particular set by a non-radioactive dummy powder, which doesn't look anything like the real element.

Fluorescent bulb initiator.
I think the two wires on either side of the coil in this picture are coated with a tiny amount of promethium-147. This is one of the electrodes from the inside of a Philips compact fluorescent bulb which my research indicates contains the substance as an arc initiator. Arguing against the proposition is that even my very sensitive mica-window Geiger counter does not detect any radioactivity. That, however, could be because only a very small amount is required for the thing to do its job, and I may not be able to detect it above the background levelSource: bulbconnection.comContributor:Theodore GrayAcquired:8 March, 2008Text Updated:8 March, 2008Price: $5Size: 0.5"Purity: 0%

Promethium luminous compass.
This is a beautiful solid brass compass of a design that dates back to WWI, but this one was most likely made in the 1950s or 1960s, assuming it does in fact, as claimed, contain promethium luminous paint on the dial. I hope it does because otherwise I don't have any example of a promethium luminous object.Source:eBay seller ebms2006Contributor:Theodore GrayAcquired:28 February, 2009Text Updated:1 March, 2009Price: $60Size: 2.5"Purity: 0%

Promethium glow switch.
I'm still trying to figure out exactly which part of the compact fluorescent bulbs I have contain the actual promethium. This might be it.Source: UnknownContributor:Theodore GrayAcquired:29 April, 2009Text Updated:30 April, 2009Price: UnknownSize: 1"Purity: <0.01%